When I was but a wee lass, the children’s show Sesame Street used to end each episode with a little blurb about the show being “sponsored” by a number and/or letter.
Today’s show was brought to you by the number 5 and the letter P!!
Well, today’s rant is brought to you by the words hypocrisy and irony.
Much like a WikiLeaks e-mail dump, it’s one of those days when I need to empty the random from my head before it curdles and turns to whey…and my family abandons me and I end up in Roswell, NM with a tin-foil hat and a houseful of cats. ¹
A while back I did a post about the U.S. suffering from a bad case of the ironies–well, it appears that much like finding a way to combat Zika, Congress couldn’t get their finger out of their ass and that irony spread unchecked. It covered the US like a bad rash. It festered. And just to make things worse, the U.S. went and caught a bad case of hypocrisy as well.
Is is not a little bit ironic that Donald Trump lashed out at Mr. Khan, an American citizen, for criticizing his lack of constitutional knowledge—yet….wait for it….what Mr. Khan was doing was the VERY THING THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTS…criticizing the government.
Yeah, I really do think.
Or that that he wants to open up libel laws to sue the media for printing falsehoods (which aren’t really) but he thinks the NATIONAL ENQUIRER should win a Pulitzer Prize?
Like a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break.
Isn’t it hypocritical that Donald Trump calls the media biased, but only when it doesn’t agree with him, criticizes him, fact-checks or prints what he actually says but without the ‘sarcasm’ air quotes? ²
Maybe it’s just me looking for a free ride when I’ve already paid.
Isn’t it just a little bit hypocritical that Hillary and Hillary alone is solely held responsible by some for the deaths of four Americans, but those same folk seem to be a-okay with the deaths of thousands of Americans and Middle Easterners stemming from false intelligence reports of Iraq’s new program of weapons of mass destruction? ³
Or that the GOP holds Hillary’s vote for the Iraq war against her but not Mike Pence’s?
Like a frigging traffic jam when you’re already late.
Isn’t it a wee bit hypocritical (not to mention suspect) that Julian Assange champions himself as warrior of truth for leaking emails which disclose bias when he himself is displaying bias by only leaking information from one party, after admitting to an extreme dislike of Hillary Clinton?
Isn’t it ironic that hypocrisy rhymes so nicely with GOP?
Isn’t it ironic that so does irony?
Isn’t it hypocritical that so many far-right Christians spread fear of Sharia Law like butter on toast yet that’s EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO IMPOSE UPON THE UNITED STATES, legislation based on their own Christian beliefs, to the complete and utter disregard of EVERYONE ELSE?
And isn’t it ironic that these are the VERY SAME PEOPLE WHO SCREAM ABOUT THEIR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BEING STRIPPED AWAY?
Isn’t it ironic how there are already claims from the GOP leadership that the national election will be rigged, yet as court case after court case shows, voter ID laws, like the one in North Carolina, all signed into law by Republican legislatures, have been shown to unfairly target and disenfranchise minorities who…. surprise, surprise, tend to vote for Democrats?
Like winning the lottery and dying the next day.
(And PLEASE. PLEASE. I want someone to argue with me how the founding fathers could not have foreseen the need for voter ID if only so I can throw back in their face not being able to have foreseen the advent of the AK47 either. Pleaaasseee…)
Isn’t it hypocritical that the “pro-life” agenda doesn’t apply to ‘life’ beyond the birth canal?
And is it not the height of hypocrisy for people to rant and rave about fetal tissue supplied by abortion providers and then take advantage of medical advances and technology which have advanced because of fetal tissue research?
(I have an idea–everyone who is anti-choice should refuse all medical treatment that is directly or indirectly a result of fetal tissue research, which includes, but is not limited to vaccine research, strokes, Parkinson’s and here’s irony within irony–to study fetal development to better understand and prevent miscarriage)
Isn’t it ironic that Chris Christie led a chorus of “Lock Her Up” and has repeatedly admonished Hillary Clinton for lying and corruption and….BridgeGate?
Isn’t it hypocritical that Hillary Clinton is demonized for staying with her unfaithful husband in order to further her political career but all those Republicans standing behind a candidate they don’t believe in in order to keep their jobs are just a-ok?
Look, I’ve waited my whole damn life just to take this flight. I’ll be damned if the fucking plane is going to crash down now.
Don’t let Alanis be right. Oh hell, she’ll be ok regardless. She’s Canadian. *
Don’t let this election be a death row pardon two minutes too late.
#vote
¹ I have no real problem with cats, nor with people who own cats, even multiple cats. I went for the cheap joke.
² I’m aware that most news sources lean one way or another, however, I’ve chosen to use a combination of NY Times, NPR, BBC, WaPo, and CNN as my base. And yes, I’m aware of the irony.
³ I’m going with the NY Times (see ²)
* Most ironic, none of Ms. Morissette’s musical examples are actually examples of irony. But let’s be fair, “Isn’t it Coincidental?” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
ALL politicians are hypocritical. They ALL hedge their bets, fudge the truth, and diminish and exaggerate to secure a vote. They ALL lie, break promises, and get mired down in the complexities of running a country, state or city. They ALL hand out favors and they all take the choicest pickings from the spoils. They ALL make decisions which are going to leave a pretty large chunk of the populace out. The ALL make decision which from time to time favor some over most. They ALL make the wrong decisions from time to time, sometimes with devastating consequences. It’s the way it has always been, it’s nothing new. What’s new is the complete and utter disregard for fact-based analysis and discourse. What is new is an Evangelical supported platform which, if instituted would be disastrous for women and minorities, not to mention completely against everything I feel the United States is about. For me, this year, the Republican party exemplifies the absolute worst aspects of this process.
Sure, focusing on just that is a little hypocritical.
Isn’t it ironic?
Wine and Cheese (Doodles) 
American expat here. I think we could be best friends. Come to The Hague or I’ll run up to Copenhagen sometime. This eloquent post says everything, EVERYTHING I think, feel and believe about what’s going on in our country. And isn’t it interesting how much the Europeans know about American politics and constantly ask (at least this happens to me) how/why Americans think DJT is a feasible candidate. They’re as flummoxed as the rest of us. At least we’re watching the madness play out from a safe distance.
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Ok, bizarre, because (in all seriousness) have just started another post about that very thing (the exhaustion of expat apologies/explaining–which is near constant as an American expat anyway, but relentless in an election year. I call it ‘Murica Splaining ;-). I have friends moving to The Hague this year–they think pretty similarly to me–let’s hook you guys up!
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You should have my email address. Please pass it along and I’ll be glad to help them in any way I can. Keep up the good work, Dina! So glad I found your blog. Tot ziens!
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Yup. Ironic.
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Don’t ya think?
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I’ve been to Roswell. Something did happen there. I saw some files I should not have seen. It’s a giant cover up I tell you. I’m here to name names. Big names. And generally spill the beans. So let me get right to it … oh wait, there’s a knock on the door. Hello? Who’s there? My name? Who’s asking? Well that is an impressive looking badge. My internet activity has been under surveillance? By who? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yes, I do consider myself a patriot. My forum postings? Uh-huh. I’m sorry Mr. Trump did not like them, but it’s called freedom of speech. Why are you laughing fiendishly? Why are you pulling out a gun? I have the right to due process. Again with the laughing? “Any last words”? What exactly does that mean? Blam! Blam! Blam! *Internet connection terminated*
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You know what the most ironic thing of all is? This whole election cycle is so convoluted and so out of the realm of sense-making that it has actually turned me into a bit of a conspiracy theorist!
The NRA? From the disclosed amounts of campaign money, it doesn’t add up. Do you think they’ve threatened to harm their families in retaliation for votes against??
Donald Trump–his campaign makes no sense. It’s almost as if he is colluding with the Dems to get them elected and expose the hypocrisy of the right…..
Are there parallel universes? Worm holes? Are we experiencing two worlds colliding against one another and bleeding through like when Bad Willow appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer???
Arraggghahh.
See what they’ve done to me? A tin-foil hat would be comfortable about now.
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I’m waiting for one of the “news” organizations to start delaying all their shows for five minutes and have everything fact checked before it is aired. A pants on fire graphic next to the spin doctors would make me happy. Of course, the Faux Newz watchers would think it is just another example of liberal media slanting the news…we are living in a post-factual world and are surrounded by more information than ever. Oh, the irony.
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The worst thing is, it doesn’t matter. Look up the Jeffrey Lord quote if you haven’t already. He basically said facts are ‘for the elite’. It’s like beating your head repeatedly against a wall. I got into an online thing the other day about a guy who was asking where the Clinton’s 200 million dollars came from, arguing it was from selling uranium or such nonsense. I’m like, dude (it’s almost ALWAYS a guy), I wouldn’t mind, but you can basically confirm or debunk these things on the internet in 3 minutes. It’s not hard. It’s not like you have to go to the freaking card catalog and look stuff up or troll through spools of microfiche. It’s exactly as you say–we’re surrounded by more information than we’ll ever need and people only believe what they want to.
Arrrgggahhahah.
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America, that mythical land of many imaginations, is famous for the can-do, never-say-die, anything-is-possible-if-you-work-hard-enough American dream. We all buy into that, even the non-Americans, because the world needs a place where those aspirational things actually happen. But what happens when we’re confronted with a reality that is rather different from the myth(s) we’ve grown up with, and so want to believe? What happens when it starts to dawn on us that the dream is still valid for some people, but not for us?
Let’s not kid ourselves. Myth-making is important for our self-identity, our sense of where we fit in this world. Myths are based on actual history, but with inconvenient details skipped, and some extra gloss added here and there to support the basic thesis. Which inconvenient details are skipped really depends on one’s world view (with the appropriate coloured lenses and accessory blinders), which results in the phenomenon of two different people seeing exactly the same thing and understanding it completely differently.
America (and the rest of the Western world culture) works hard at maintaining the myths, even as the world changes around us. At some point, the gap between the myth we hold dear, and the reality biting us on our rear end becomes so pronounced that we either develop split personalities, or go through a divorce (deciding which parent to “follow”) and the grieving process that follows it. You can decide whether those possibilities account for some of the behaviour we are seeing in the political area.
PS. The “America” concept/myth is different from the “U.S.A”. country, although some/many think they are the same.
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You must be swimming around in the murky depths of my thoughts these days, Paul. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the “American Dream”(and love your distinction between America and U.S.A.–you are right, very different). It’s difficult to explain (I touched on it just a little in my last piece about explaining it to non-Americans), but I also think it’s the proverbial carrot dangling in front of the horse. The myth of the American Dream is, more than anything, the religion of the United States. It’s what keeps people plugging along, with the tacit understanding that if they work hard enough, it too will be theirs. The meek will inherit the earth (and you just know there is going to be an expanded post about this soon!! The ideas are percolating, fueled in no small part by this comment). But there are a lot of underlying problems–one being, like you said, it’s a myth which leaves out the inconvenient details. Love the idea of dream as myth. Thanks for the inspiration!!
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